Proposed Amendments to WJA 2012 Charter & By-Laws

On behalf of the Board of Governors we are glad to announce that, from the Board Meeting held on January 24, 2018, the proposal to Amend the WJA 2012 Charter & By-Laws (below) was approved. This project was presented last year by President Dr. Franklin Hoet, as his vision to enhance and revitalize the operations of the association through decentralization. The drafting counted with the support, ideas, and advice of several active WJA members and an external DC Attorney specialized in NGOs, so as to adapt our regulations to the current related DC & US laws.

During the Board Meeting, the Final Draft of the Amendments for the 2012 Charter & By-Laws was approved by the unanimity (8/8) of Members of the Board attending and/or being represented there. Only one member of the Board could not attend the meeting, perhaps owing the time difference (China). The approval, hence, exceeded the minimum of 66% votes required by the current Charter & By-Laws. It is worth mentioning that only one (01) vote from President & Past President Dr. Franklin Hoet Linares and only one (01) vote from Executive Vice President & General Counsel Garry E. Hunter were taken in consideration, even though they both held two positions within the Board.

Therefore, and following all the procedure established for amending and/or repealing the WJA Charter & By-Laws, we enclosed on an email on January 26, 2018 the approved project and the corresponding ballot to all members entitled to vote. As per the current regulations, the Amendments Draft most be published and distributed to all members in good standing at least ninety (90) days before the vote is tallied. Unfortunately, owing internet connection problems, we could not upload the document on the website the same day it was sent to those members entitled by the WJA 2012 Charter & By-Laws to vote.

We requested members entitled to vote to, after carefully reviewing the Amendments proposed, return their ballot as soon as possible, and no later thanApril 26, 2018. The final vote will be tallied on April 26, 2018, and a majority of all votes cast will determine the decision to adopt these amendments. As of January 24, 2018, the number of members in good standing was sixty-two (62). Therefore, the majority required for this process will be thirty-one (31) plus one (1), meaning thirty-two (32) votes. Given the case, once this amount of approving votes is received, the Charter & By-laws will take immediate effect.

Ballots enclosed in the email sent to the membership in good standing should be exclusively returned to the WJA Executive Vice-President & General Counsel, Dr. Garry E. Hunter, at:

Only one ballot per member in good standing as per January 24, 2018 will be counted. Duplicates will not be accepted.

Had you recieved the aforementioned email, we are looking forward to your active involvement in this revitalization process.

Finally, we would like to extend you all an invitation to participate at the WJA Conference “IP – Protection and Trademark Rights: International Discussion with the Aim of a Worldwide Exchange” to be held in Munich, Germany on May 3-4, 2018.

About WJA

The WJA was formed in response to an international outcry for a free and open forum where judges, lawyers, law professors and other professionals from around the world could work cooperatively to strengthen and expand the Rule of Law and its institutions through the nations of the world.